Lateral asymmetries in infant melody perception.
Two experiments investigated lateral asymmetries in infants' perception of contour-altered and contour-preserved melody changes. In the first study, 40 infants (8.5 months old) of right-handed parents were trained to respond to binaural melody changes with a head turn toward mechanized toy reinforcers. The subsequent test phase included monaural left-ear and right-ear presentations of the familiar melody and of a changed melody. Infants who heard a contour-altered change showed a left-ear advantage, whereas infants who heard a contour-preserved change showed a right-ear advantage. These effects were replicated with a different set of melodies in the second study. The pattern of lateralization for detection of melody changes in infants of right-handed parents resembles that previously found in right-handed adults and may reflect more general hemispheric processing differences in the early organization of auditory information processing.
Balaban
M T
MT
Department of Psychology, Eastern Oregon University, La Grande 97850, USA.
Anderson
L M
LM
Wisniewski
A B
AB
D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009146:Music